A lot happened right after getting my art blog started nearly a year ago. It wasn’t horrible, but it drained of my time, energy, emotions, and funds. It took me away from art, and my skills suffered for it.

I got homesick for my Groove, and was actually afraid the Groove had gone cold forever, that I’d never get it back. For a while even doodling was a struggle. But pig-headedly I pushed on through self-doubt, until pencil and brush felt natural in my hand again.

Here I was, busily knocking the rust off my edge and honing it. My Muse had my full attention again, the visions were pouring in. All I had to do is keep up. And then a new hurdle appeared —

Soon I started getting too fussy with niggling details, ultimately boogering up what could have been a really good painting or drawing. What to do? I got a stop-watch and I began to mark my time to keep from overworking a piece, especially with figuratives.

I want to keep a sense of spontaneity in some of my work, the sense of a work done quickly and with confidence. The total working time for the quickie watercolor above: 17 minutes.